If you are not sure about which device is ideal for your daily life tasks, follow this article for a detailed comparison of BeagleBone Black and Raspberry Pi 4 devices.
Let’s Start!
Raspberry Pi 4
Raspberry Pi 4 is one of the most well-known Single Board Computers (SBC), that are widely used by enthusiasts, hobbyists, adults, and professionals for performing different tasks in the field of Robotics, Automation, and Computation. Raspberry Pi 4 is the current version of the Raspberry Pi board series, which has different RAM sizes of 2 GB, 4 GB, and 8 GB. One of the advantages of using Raspberry Pi 4 board over other SBCs is that it has the largest online support available where people keep sharing their problems, tutorials, queries, and solutions:
Specifications – Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi 4 has powerful Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 Processor with a 1.5 GHz clock speed. It has a 4GB LPDDR4-2400 SDRAM and 2 x micro-HDMI ports that can be used to provide great video resolution. Also, it has Bluetooth, Ethernet, and WiFi support. The device has 4 USB Ports out of which 2 are thunderbolt ports for fast data transfer. The built-in Broadcom VideoCore VI GPU supports 2D and 3D graphics along with general-purpose computing. It also has green and red built-in LEDs to inform users about the power and working status of the board. The device uses the SD card as the main storage device where you can install different lightweight operating systems like Raspberry Pi, DietPie, and more.
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BeagleBone Black (BBB)
BeagleBone Black also belongs to the category of single-board computers and is the newest in the market. It is mostly used by Engineers and developers for gaming projects, creating complex circuit projects, or projects that require more input/output options since it has many GPIO pinouts. It has an open-source hardware design to promote prototyping SBCs hardware.
Specifications – BeagleBone Black
BeagleBone Black has a 1GHz TI Sitara AM3359 ARM Cortex A8 Processor and 512MB DDR3 SDRAM, suitable for running a lightweight desktop environment. It has 2 x 46 I/O header Pins that can be used for creating different projects. Also, It has 4GB eMMC onboard flash storage, allowing users to install OS within fast-speed eMMC storage. For good quality graphics, it includes a 3D Graphics accelerator, while it also has interfaces like SPI, Ethernet, TF card, serial, ADC, and HDMI D-Type. Further, it also provides an onboard Boot switch to have control over the booting process through hardware too.
BeagleBone Black V/S Raspberry Pi 4 – Comparison
A comparison table of both BeagleBone Black and a Raspberry Pi 4 board is given below:
| Specs | BeagleBone Black | Raspberry Pi 4 |
| Processor | 1GHz clock speed TI Sitara AM3359 ARM Cortex A8 | Broadcom BCM2711 processor, Quad-core Cortex-A72 (1.5 GHz)- |
| GPIO | 2 x 46 pins | 40 Pins |
| Dimensions | 86.36 mm x 53.34 mm | 88 mm x 58 mm |
| USB Ports | 1 (USB 2.0 host), 1 USB client | 2 USB 3.0, 2 USB 2.0 |
| Storage | 4GB on-board storage available using eMMC, microSD card slot | No onboard storage, MicroSD |
| RAM | 512MB RAM | 2GB, 4GB, 8GB RAM |
| Operating System | Debian | Raspberry Pi OS or Raspbian |
| Boot Switch | Yes | No |
We have seen the specs difference between both these SBCs now it is time to investigate their advantages one device over another.
Advantages of BeagleBone Black over Raspberry Pi 4
BeagleBone Black has more GPIO pin-out options compared to Raspberry Pi 4 so it helps you in developing multiple projects at the same time. The BeagleBone Black board has built-in eMMC storage while this feature isn’t available in Raspberry Pi 4 devices. It has a boot switch too and is best for creating IoT-related projects. Since it’s open-source hardware, the users are allowed to prototype its hardware over other boards, which is more suitable for the developers.
Advantages of Raspberry Pi 4 over BeagleBone Black
Raspberry Pi 4 provides better audio and graphical capabilities compared to BeagleBone Black and it has more USB ports as well, allowing you to connect various peripherals devices with it. The more processing power and greater RAM size make it a better choice to replace your desktop environment, Raspberry Pi 4 is a lot cheaper than BagleBone Black. Thus, we can say that the Raspberry Pi 4 device is better since it’s cost-efficient and can be used for creating various complex projects.
Final Thoughts
BeagleBone Black in comparison to Raspberry Pi 4 is a little new so Raspberry Pi 4 has more popularity, which results in providing greater online support than Beaglebone. But BeagleBone Black is open source, which allows great customization features to its users and the presence of onboard eMMC storage feature makes it a good competitor to Raspberry Pi 4 device. However, in terms of cost and providing users the easiness of creating many projects, the Raspberry Pi 4 device is a better choice.
